Problematique
by itzsyd123
Summary: When Eli Goldsworthy enters Clare's life, will they become something more, or will it end in tragedy? A little OOC but who cares. Much better than the summery makes it sound.  Rated T for later use
1. Chapter 1

**A/N this is my very first Fan Fiction so please cut me some slack. The title comes from the song Problematique by Hot Chelle Rae. Read. Review. Love. (Hopefully don't) Hate. Thanks.**

**P.S. This whole story is written in Clare's P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, Hot Chelle Rae, or a teddy bear named Elvis.**

"Does this dress make me look fat?" I asked Adam.

"No, Clare. You look amazing. I don't know why I agree to come shopping with you every time. I need to spend time with my family, my girlfriend. People other than you," Adam said.

Tomorrow is the first day of my sophomore year of high school. I want to look great. I just cut my hair short and got rid of my geeky glasses. I don't want to be known as Darcy's little sister anymore. I want to be known as Clare, the coo, good looking grade ten girl.

Adam is my best friend. He's a FTM transgender, but I still think of him as the same old Adam. Not as Gracie. He has a brother named Drew. Drew likes Ali. Ali is my best friend who also likes Drew. Drew is friends with K.C. And K.C. is my ex. He goes out with Jenna. Jenna is friends with Ali. Ali has an older brother named Sav. Sav and Anya used to date. Anya now is dating Owen. Owen picks on Riley and Zane. Riley and Zane are gay…

The Degrassi friendship tree could go on and on, but I prefer to keep myself pretty secluded.

I checked my phone. It was five o'clock.

"Clare, you look fantastic. Buy the stupid dress so we can go to The Dot and eat something. I'm starving." Whined Adam.

"Fine, let me pay for the dress and we can go," I reply.

The Dot is this local coffee place that is the hangout of everyone who goes to Degrassi. Peter, Darcy's boyfriend from before she went to Kenya, works there.

While we were walking to The Dot, I noticed a hearse driving down the road. I couldn't see the driver but I was assuming that they were just delivering a casket to some random cemetery.

Some pretty weird people live in Toronto, though, so I wouldn't have been surprised if someone owned it as their own vehicle.

When we got inside The Dot, I ordered us some food. Adam seemed pretty zoned-out so I pulled out a book and started to read. When our food arrived, we ate in silence and then proceeded to go home.

When I got home, I went straight to bed. I didn't want to see my mother. She would be drunk and as soon as she saw me she would no doubt start to yell at me. And I didn't want to be stressed the day before school.

**Next Day**

I walked up the steps to Degrassi Community School. Ali ran up behind me and gave me a giant hug.

"Geeze Ali, you'd think you haven't seen me for two weeks!" I exclaimed.

"Clare. That's because I haven't seen you for the past two weeks. I missed you in Florida. But I still had tones of fun. So how was the rest of your summer?" Ali said.

I explained to her the rest of my boring summer. She didn't look happy about it.

At my locker, I apparently seemed distracted. When she yanked my arm to get me to move, I stumbled backwards into someone else. All of the stuff that I was carrying tumbled to the floor. I reached down to pick up all of my belongings, but before I could, a boy handed me everything in a neat pile.

When I looked up, I stared straight into his beautiful forest green eyes. He had straight black hair. He had a tiny bit of black eyeliner on his bottom lash line. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a dark grey shirt.

Ali nudged me to snap me out of my trance.

"I'm Eli. Eli Goldsworthy. And you are?" He stated. He was holding his hand out for me to shake.

"Cl-Clare." I stuttered. I shook his hand. He put on a lopsided smirk.

_He is so nice. And he's kind of cute too. _I thought to myself.

"I guess I'll see you around," I said.

"I guess you will." He replied.

After he walked away, Ali started to grin.

"You like him" She teased.

"Do not!" I said back.

"You loooove him," She stated with a grin.

"Oh shut up Ali." I said as I walked away to my first period class.

As I walked in to my first class, advanced English, I noticed Eli sitting at a desk in the middle of the classroom. The only other seat was the one right behind him.

Adam was sitting in the seat next to the empty one.

"Hey, Clare, have a seat," said Eli as he turned around.

**A/N leave a review and let me know how I did for my first time. Thank you for reading. By the way, check out the song Problematique by Hot Chelle Rae.**

**-Itzsyd123**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N. I am so happy that I already got reviews. I am positively beaming. I'm very happy and I am going to be publishing a chapter either every day or every other day if I get writers block. So keep an eye out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, Green Day, or anything else cool.**

I tried not to be very distracted for the rest of the day. I couldn't wait to see Eli again. We were allowed to talk for most of English class. He and Adam seemed to get along pretty well. Ali was teasing me for having a crush on him. But I couldn't help it. He was just so perfect.

When I got to my locker, a group of boys walked by. One of them slammed my locker. It caught the edge of my hand, slicing it open. As soon as it happened I knew exactly who had done it.

Fitz.

Eli ran over to me from the other side of the hallway. He made sure I was alright before he went after Fitz.

"Who do you think you are? Why would you mess with her like that?" questioned Eli.

"Listen here pretty boy; I think you should keep your mouth shut." said Fitz.

Fitz tried to punch Eli but Eli was too fast. He jumped out of the way and punched Fitz square in the face. Now, I'm not one for violence, but I thought it was about time for someone to stand up to Fitz.

Mr. Simpson came and broke the boys up before it got too far. Eli explained that he only hurt Fitz because Fitz hurt me. I started to blush furiously.

Mr. Simpson let them off with a warning. Eli walked my way.

Blood was dripping off my hand and on to the floor.

"You should probably get that looked at," said Eli bluntly.

"Will you walk me to the nurse's office?" I asked with a sheepish smile.

"Sure," he said.

As we were walking, my IPod fell out of my bag. The song 21 Guns started to play.

"Is that Green Day? I didn't think that they were your style Saint Clare." said Eli.

I started to blush again. Most people say that love at first sight is stupid, but I'm living proof that it exists. I didn't think one person could ever make me as happy as he had in the past seven hours.

When we arrived at the nurse's office, she looked directly at my hand. She told me that I would have to go to the hospital to get stiches. My mom would probably be too drunk to even care. I turned to Eli.

"Can I ask another favor? My mom is at work, so can I get a ride to the hospital?" I asked Eli. I was lying, but Eli didn't need to know.

"Of course," He replied. We walked out of the school together. As we walked through the parking lot he stopped in front of a hearse. Another hearse, or was it the same one from yesterday? I wonder why they are starting to show up everywhere now.

"Get in" he said. He gestured to the hearse. It was his? Why did that not surprise me? I wonder if he was really as death obsessed as everyone said he was.

"It's yours?" I asked.

"Yup, and it's not an it, it's a he, and his name is Morty." He stated.

"Morty the hearse, it's got a nice ring to it," I joked.

I got in and we took the trip to the hospital. We got in to the ER and waited. The doctor came and told me he'd need to numb my hand while he put in the stiches. I don't like needles. In fact, I can't stand them. Eli must have seen the nervous look on my face. He came to stand by my side. He grabbed my other hand and held it tight. I felt instantly comforted.

When we were done, we went to The Dot for some coffee. While we sat, we played a game of twenty questions.

"Who was your first boyfriend?" He asked.

"K.C. Guthrie." I said with bitterness. "What is a family nickname that you have?" I asked.

"My mom calls me baby boy. Do you have any siblings?"

"Just a sister, Darcy. How about you?"

"Nope, I'm an only child. Do you have any family nicknames?"

"My parents call me Clare-Bear." I was lying to him. My parents didn't love me enough to give me any nicknames. They only cared enough to slap me if I came home late. But I wasn't about to tell Eli that.

He saw that I was upset and we stopped the game. When we were done, he gave me a ride home. When I was at my front door, I turned around and waved. He gave me his lopsided smirk that I have come to know and love.

"CLARE EDWARDS! GET IN HERE RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" My mother shrieked.

I turned to see what misfortune I would face this time.

**A/N. This Chapter went through so many re-writes. But I am pretty happy with how it turned out. And the locker thing can happen, I cut my hand open with my locker before. Read, review. Peace.**

**-itzsyd123**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I had a school walkthrough, plus I had writers block, PLUS my internet was crashed all day… Fun.**

**Read, Review, Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi, or an internet company.**

I walked in to my house only to be faced by my drunken mother. She had an empty bottle of wine in one hand and a full bottle in the other. I want to know where she gets the money to buy all of this stuff. She can buy hundreds of bottles of wine, yet we can't afford to buy me a car.

"Clare Edwards, where have you been?" She asked, slurring her words like any drunken person would.

"I had to have my friend drive me to the hospital, I needed stiches." I replied flatly. I began to walk towards the stairs. She bolted from where she was and half stumbled half ran in front of me. I backed away and made my way to the door.

"LIAR," She shrieked. Then she threw the empty bottle of wine at me. Luckily I was born with fast reflexes, so I dodged it and it shattered against the door. I was pinned against the wall in fear. She had done some pretty bad things, but she never had tried to hurt me before. I came back to my senses in time to realize that she was getting ready to throw the full bottle at me. I was still paralyzed in fear, so by the time it hit the wall, I was too close.

The bottle shattered against the wall. Shards of glass flew everywhere. So did the wine. A few shards of glass hit me, one across my arm, and another right below my eye. I was drenched in wine. I bolted out the front door before my mom could catch me.

I ran straight to the park. When I got there I threw myself on the bench for a minute. When I realized that bunches of moms were staring at me, I got up and started to walk. After I was walking for about ten minutes, I looked up to see where I had ended up. The first thing I noticed was Eli's hearse. Where was I? I couldn't be at his house. I didn't even know where he lived. Then I saw him walk out of the front door of the house. I started to walk away, but he saw me first.

"Clare? Is that you?" He asked. I turned around slowly. I was getting cold, and my face was still bleeding. He ran over to me and stared at me with a confused look on his face.

"What happened? Why are you bleeding? Why do you smell like wine?" He asked me.

"I was walking around in my house, and I slipped and fell on some glass. And I do not smell like wine." I stated. I was lying again. He saw right through my lie. I didn't want to tell him that my mom was an alcoholic. He knew something was wrong and that I was getting hurt. He was so hard to lie to. He had a sincere look on his face and it was breaking down the walls that I had put up all of my life.

"Come with me and we can get you cleaned up. And then you can tell me the real reason why you're covered in wine and blood." He told me. He noticed that I was cold, so he took off his sweatshirt and draped it over my shoulders. He put his arm around my shoulders and led me in to his house. A lady who must have been his mom was waiting at the door. She had a very confused look on her face.

"Eli, who is this? And why is she covered in blood and, what is that? Wine?" She asked.

"This is Clare. And I don't know why she is covered in wine and blood. But I felt that the nice thing to do would be to help her get cleaned up. By the way, Clare, this is my mom Cece." Said Eli.

"It's very nice to meet you," I said to Cece.

Eli walked me over to his living room and got a warm washcloth. He started to wipe the blood off my face. I winced every time the washcloth hit my face. He pulled out a few little pieces of glass from my cheek. He still looked very confused. He cleaned me up the best he could.

"Now, are you going to tell me what really happened?" He asked. I hated how he was so nice that I felt like I had to trust him.

"Eli, I'm going to tell you something that I haven't ever told anyone else."

**A/N. Ooh… Cliffhanger. This chapter is just going to be a chapter without tons of meaning. But I felt that it needed to be there. By the way, thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. It is what pushes me to keep writing.**

**-itzsyd123**

**P.S. Finale tonight… YAY!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys and girls… Thanks for the awesome reviews. Also thanks for favorite-ing and adding my story to your alerts… I have already made up my mind and decided that there will be a sequel to this story. But no worries, this story is nowhere near done. I already have plans for the next few chapters of this story so the updates should be pretty frequent. But I am starting school again in a few days, so I'll update as often as possible. Enough rambling. Here is chapter 4…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, Aislinn Paul (Clare), Or Munro Chambers (Eli).**

I spent the next half an hour telling Eli my life story. When I told him about how my mom hates me, I could see the anger in his beautiful green eyes. Then I told him how when Darcy left to go to Kenya and my dad left, she started to drink. And she kept drinking. How in the past few years, she has spent thousands of dollars on wine and champagne. And how today, my mom threw two wine bottles at me. I saw that he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. He was angry. Very angry. When we locked eyes, his burned with fury.

"How could you let someone hurt you for so long? Why didn't you go get anyone for some help? You're too perfect to have to deal with someone like that…" As soon as he said the last part, I started to blush. He thought that I was perfect.

"Well, when you have something traumatic happen to you, you sometimes can't bring yourself to do anything about it. I love my mom and I couldn't live with myself if she got taken away." I said. I started to feel the swelling in my chest that I get in my chest when I start to cry.

"I know the feeling. I'm going to tell you something only very few people know. Six months ago, my girlfriend died. Her name was Julia. We had a fight. When she left, a drunk driver hit her. She was killed on impact. I haven't been able to be very happy since then. But you changed that, Clare. Ever since I met you I've been so happy, my dad thought I was on drugs. You make me happy Clare." He told me. I felt myself start to cry, part of it from the pain in my hand, my cheek, and my eye, part of it from being happy. He felt the same way I did.

He looked confused by my crying. Before he could do anything, I reached over and hugged him. It took him a second to realize what I was doing. He started to hug back. It felt so right. It took about ten minutes, but when we pulled away, we were both smiling. He noticed that I was still shivering, so he scooted over and put his arm around my shoulder.

I leaned in to him and rested my head on his chest. We sat like that for what could have been hours. Then his mom walked in the room and we both pulled away. She had a smile on her face. I was blushing. Eli looked embarrassed.

"Dinner is almost ready. Clare, would you like to eat with us?" Asked Cece.

"I would love to, thank you." I replied.

Eli and I both stood up and he led me to their dining room. I noticed that the whole house seemed to have a theme that heavily involved the color black. We both sat down as his mom put the last of the food on the table. A tall man who must have been his dad sat down across from me.

"Eli, who might this young lady be?" he asked in a mocking tone. He looked at me with a weird look. I realized that I must look like a mess. I was still drenched with wine from earlier. Eli rolled his eyes at how formal his dad was being.

"I'm Clare. Clare Edwards," I said. I held out my good hand for him to shake.

"I'm Bullfrog Goldsworthy," he replied as he shook my hand.

My eyes widened at the name. I knew the last name Goldsworthy sounded familiar. He was a famous radio host, on one of the most popular stations in Toronto.

"Yes, he's the guy who hosts the radio show. Now what do we have to eat," Said Eli, trying to change the subject.

At the Goldsworthy house, I had one of the most entertaining dinners ever. At my house, we would have eaten in silence. Here, everyone was telling funny stories and cracking jokes. When we were finished, Eli took me home.

"Can I borrow your parents for, like, ever?" I asked on our way to my house.

"What, and then leave me without parents? Well that doesn't sound very fun." He replied with a laugh and a smirk. "So what do you want to do tomorrow? Movies? The Dot?" He asked.

"How about we eat at The Dot and then go to the movies? And does this mean that we're dating?" I asked.

"Yes it does. And that plan sounds good." He said as we pulled up to my house.

"Ok. See you tomorrow. Pick me up at six?" I asked.

"Sure thing. Girlfriend." He said. I blushed when he called me his girlfriend. I didn't want to get out of the car. But my mom wasn't home so I should be safe.

We said our goodbyes and then I went inside. I took a shower, and got ready for bed. Though I got no sleep because I was too busy thinking about Eli.

**A/N. What do you think? Am I moving too fast with their relationship? Review and Let me know. Thanks much.**

**-itzsyd123**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for a late update. I was at a birthday party and baby shower all day yesterday, and I didn't get a chance to write. So enough of my talking, here is chapter five.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or a kid…**

When I got up, I heard a stirring on the other side of the door. I was hoping like hell that it wasn't my mom. But of course, the odds are not in my favor, and she stumbled through my door. She was very drunk. And she looked very angry…

"Clare Edwards, where did you run off to yesterday?" She said, slurring her words.

I gave her a blank look which made her even angrier. She clenched her fist even harder around the bottle of champagne that she was holding. Her knuckles turned white. She started to walk towards my bed and I backed up. She was glaring at me as she backed me up against my bed. She released her grip on the champagne and it shattered against the floor. She started to smile.

"Oh, Clare-bear, you have no reason to be afraid of me. I am only a concerned mother. You just have to tell me where you were," She said with a mock-soothing voice.

"Concerned mother my ass. You tried to hurt me so I ran away, trying to escape getting hurt. Besides, if you were caring, you wouldn't have thrown a wine bottle at me!" I screamed at her. It felt nice to let go of all of my emotion. But she seemed to have a problem with my anger.

"Clare, you never talk to me like that ever again!" She yelled. She grabbed my arm with a bruising grip. She twisted her hand so the skin on my arm was over-stretched and caused a searing pain. I screamed as she twisted it tighter. She reached over with her other hand and slapped me hard across my face. I shrieked in pain. She began to punch me in the stomach. I didn't fight back because then she would only try to hurt me more. When she let go, I collapsed on the floor, and she walked out of the room.

It was time for me to start getting ready. I hoisted myself off of the ground and went into my bathroom. I took a shower, blow-dried my hair, and fixed my curls. There was a large red welt on my face from where my mom slapped me, so I covered it with concealer. I went back to my room and pulled on my clothes. There were large bruises forming on my stomach. My lower arm was red and severely bruised.

I pulled on a hoodie, grabbed my backpack, and stood next to my bedroom door quietly. When I heard no sound, I stepped into the hallway. I quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bagel, and ran out the door. I took my time walking to school. When I got there, Eli was waiting next to Morty. He gave me a smile and walked over to me.

"Good morning milady. How are you today?" He asked.

"I'm doing well, and how about you?" I questioned. He grabbed my wrist, and I tried not to wince from the pain. He pulled me close.

"So much better now that you're here," he said. He made my heart melt. I started to blush and a smile crept on to my lips. He let go of my wrist and I instantly pulled it back. He gave me a funny look. He put his arm around my shoulders, and we walked in to school.

"So what do we have here?" A voice said from behind us. It was Adam, walking with Ali. Ali had a huge grin on her face. I knew what she was thinking. That she was right, that I did like him.

"Well, me and little Miss Saint Clare here are a couple. How about you two? You seem to have grown close." Eli replied, snapping me back to reality.

"We are not going out!" Ali replied quickly. She pulled away from Adam, and walked away quickly as she started to blush. I could tell that she liked him.

"Saint Clare? That's a new nickname." Adam said. I blushed and ducked my head. The bell rang soon and we all started to walk to class. Since we all had our first hour together, we made a stop at everyone's locker and entered the classroom together.

The rest of the day was a blur, because I was so excited for our date. Eli stopped by my locker after school and offered me a ride home. I accepted and we walked out to Morty. Eli grabbed my wrist again and I couldn't help but give out a little yelp of pain.

"Are you alright Clare?" He asked. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My wrist is just a little sore." I replied, trying my hardest not to let my face give the truth away. I apparently failed.

"No," He said disbelievingly. He yanked up the sleeve of my hoodie to reveal the black and blue bruise on my arm. His hand tensed up. "Did she do this to you?" He asked in a harsh voice.

I muttered the word yes and his whole face flushed red. He was very angry.

"If you won't do anything about her hurting you, then I will" He said as he pulled out his phone.

**A/N: Cliffhanger… Dun dun dunnnnn. Well did you love it? Hate it? Have any ideas for the story? I will gladly take any ideas and put them in to consideration. Review please. Thanks. Bye.**

**-itzsyd123**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello there people of the fan-fiction world. School starts tomorrow so I have no clue how often updates will come. Just a heads up. And thank you to the person who left this idea in the form of a review. I would copy your name in to this authors note, but that would have taken hours of going through my e-mail inbox. But you know who you are. And you, my friend, are awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or a yummy raspberry dessert.**

Eli pulled out his phone. My eyes started to water, a warning of the tears to come. I reached out to grab the wrist of the hand with his phone in it. He saw how upset I was, but he didn't close his phone. Hot tears started to run down my face. I couldn't let him take away the last of my family. My mom was all that I had, even if she hated me.

"Eli, please stop. I'm a big girl. I can handle this on my own. If she does anything to me again, I promise that I will call the police. Now please put your phone away." I begged. He saw the devastated look in my eyes, and he obeyed my request. He put his phone away and pulled me into a hug. I held back the scream of pain from my bruises on my stomach.

"Well, now that I don't have to worry about police showing up at my house, I need to get ready for our date tonight." I said with a smile. I pulled away from the hug and started towards my house. He gave me a smirk and I waved back at him.

When I got home, my mom was still gone. I don't know where she goes when she is gone. It's a mystery that will never be solved. I rushed up to my room to start getting ready. I pulled out the new dress that I got for the first day of school. I decided that it was too showy for school, so I opted to wear it now. I tossed the dress on my bed and went in to my bathroom.

I applied more makeup on my black eye and re-did the rest of my makeup. I fixed the curls in my hair and walked back to my room. I heard the front door open and I froze. I heard my mom stumble up the stairs. She walked up to my doorway and leaned up against the frame. I backed up against my bed.

She started towards me. She punched me in the stomach and I doubled over. The she started to knee me in the stomach. Just before I blacked out I looked at my clock. It was six. Just when I was supposed to meet Eli at The Dot. I let a tear slip from my eye just as I blacked out.

** Eli's P.O.V. ** (**Gasp**)

I was waiting at The Dot. Clare was supposed to meet me here a half an hour ago. Peter came back to get my order. All I got was a glass of water. I know that Clare wouldn't stand me up. She was too much of a nice person to stand me up. Peter came back with my water. He sat down across from me. Just as Sav walked in, he noticed me and Peter and he sat down with us.

"What's up guys?" Asked Sav. My face must have answered for me. "A no show huh? That bites. Well there are more fish in the sea," Sav said in an attempt to cheer me up. Peter smacked him up-side the head. Sav hit him back and they got in to a girly slap fight.

"Guys!" I yelled to get their attention. "This is Clare we're talking about. She is too nice to stand someone up." Peter nodded in agreement. Sav was still pouting over getting hit. Then it dawned on me. Her mom. I bet she got hurt so bad that she blacked out.

"Dude, your face just lit up like a kid with a cookie. What popped into that messed up head of yours?" asked Peter. I turned to him and gave him a concerned look. What kind of expression is "Your face lit up like a kid with a cookie"?

I explained to them about Clare's mom. I told them that we needed to get to her house fast. Peter hung up his apron and clocked out. We all ran to Morty and got in. I drove just above the speed limit until we got to her house. We jumped out of Morty and ran up to her front door. It was locked, and none of us had a key.

Sav began to jump and reach on top of the doorframe. When he pulled his arm down, he had a key in his hand.

"The upside to her being my sisters' best friend, I know where everything is." He stated as he unlocked the door. When the door opened, we all bolted inside. We followed Sav up to Clare's room. I was the one to open the door. When I saw her room my face went pale.

Clare was lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

**A/N: Well, la-di-da. Slight cliffhanger. A bit short. Oh well, it was fun to write. And I'm not familiar with Peter, so he is going to be OOC. This is not how the original chapter six went. This was a major re-write. But the original way it went will come up later. Please review. Thanks. Adios.**

**-itzsyd123**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I really have nothing for this authors note…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi…**

As soon as I saw all of the blood, my face went pale and tears started to form in my eyes. Sav and Peter looked a little queasy. I walked over to where she was laying and saw her chest rise and lower faintly. At least she was still alive. For now. Her face had no blood on it, but her shirt was soaked. I told Sav to call an ambulance and Peter stayed by my side. I knelt by her side.

Her hands were clenched over her stomach. Peter walked up behind me and tapped my shoulder. I looked back at him and he pointed. He was pointing at a knife. I moved Clare's hands away from her stomach and noticed a puncture wound. It was fresh. Hot tears started to fall down my face. It was Julia all over again.

Sav came back and told us that the ambulance was on its way. His face turned a pale shade of green when his eyes found the knife wound. He left the room so his nausea could pass. Peter went with him.

I grabbed Clare's hand. I wasn't one to believe in her religion much. But I don't think that I have ever prayed so much, that someone that I love would be ok. The color was fading from her skin. She was almost dead. I started to sob. Peter looked through the door and noticed me crying. He walked in and sat next to me.

"It's hard for me to see her like this too. I lost one Edwards sister, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost another." Peter said. I couldn't speak because my voice was choked up, but I nodded. "Plus, Darcy would kill me if Clare died. I promised to protect her. But I obviously didn't do very well." Peter just kept talking.

Less than thirty seconds later, the ambulance showed up. They took Clare away and they left me, Sav, and Peter in her room. I still had a few tears falling from my eyes. Peter and Sav looked upset, but nowhere near how upset I was.

"I guess we should get to the hospital." I said bluntly. We all moved to the door and got in to Morty. The drive felt longer than it took. My whole world was moving in slow motion. I can't keep losing the people I love. I only just met Clare, but I knew that I loved her more than I could have ever loved Julia. If I lost her, my whole world would end.

When we got to the hospital, we went to the waiting room. We wouldn't be able to see Clare until later. The waiting was actually painful. My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. People came and went, but I was the only one who stayed. Peter and Sav left to go home a few hours earlier. I was left alone. The magazines were not my style and were about three years old.

At about six in the morning, Adam came running. The waiting room is open for twenty-four hours. I got no sleep though.

"Dude, where is she?" Adam said in a panicked voice. I shrugged my shoulders, but my expression said a million words.

"She is still alive, right? I wouldn't be able to live if she died." He said. That snapped something in my brain. The seemingly harmless words made me ten levels of angry.

"Adam, you think that you would be upset? I love her and I never even got to kiss her. She meant everything to me and now she is being taken away. Everyone that I love is just slipping through my fingers!" I screamed at him. I also had grabbed the attention of a few tired nurses.

Adam started to reply, but the doctor walked in the room. He had a grave look on his face. I jumped to the worst conclusion. He walked towards us.

"She's not dead, but she isn't in the best condition. We did everything we could." He said.

"She'll be alright though, right? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she died." I said. He looked at me with a sad face.

"I'm afraid; we don't think that she will make it. I'm very sorry. You can come and say your goodbyes." He said as he let us out the door.

**A/N: Dun dun dunnnnn. Again, cliffhanger. Don't worry; this is just a bit of drama. No worries. Review with ideas and feedback. Thanks.**

**-itzsyd123**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I am SO sorry for how long it took me to update. School has been so crazy and I'm just now getting back in to a rhythm. So I need to ask you to bear with me while I figure some stuff out. I have been writing in the free time that I have so I am updating as often as possible. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or a Prius.**

When the doctor told me that, about a million emotions rushed through me. My brain settled with anger. I couldn't lose her, and the doctors weren't even trying to save her. They needed to keep trying.

"You have to do something, ANYTHING, to save her!" I yelled. "You can't just let her die. I can't live without her. She means the world to me. I lost one girlfriend before and I can't lose another one."

I lurched forward and Adam grabbed my arm. He gave me a warning look and I stepped back. I know that this was hard for Adam too. He was going to lose his best friend. She was like family to him. She was there for him when he needed her most, and now he was going to have to live without her.

The doctor led us back to her room. When I saw her I almost passed out. Her face was too pale to be human. She was covered in bruises and her chest was barely moving. She looked so fragile. I moved towards her, but didn't dare touch her. I felt that if I moved anything, that she would break and I would never get her back.

"The blood loss is too great. If she can't produce any more within the next hour, she will die. So I suggest you say your goodbyes now." The doctor said bluntly before he left.

I reached down and grabbed her hand. She was so cold. The room temperature was very cold. I saw Adam walk up on the other side of the bed. He was crying. I'm sure I was too. I held her hand in mine. I looked at Adam and he must have read my thoughts.

We started to pray for Clare. We prayed for her to be alright. That was all that I wanted. I needed her to stay with me. I think I would have to end my own life if hers ended now.

I gripped her hand harder. Adam reached down across the table and grabbed her other hand. I released my firm grip and set her hand back down. I pulled up one of the chairs and sat down beside her bed. Adam left after about ten minutes. If her body didn't produce enough blood within the next half an hour, she would be dead.

After another ten minutes, I saw her chest rise and fall rapidly for a few seconds. I figured that her body was making a final effort to live before she died. Then her hand started to twitch. I saw her eyelids flutter, and then open. She closed them again quickly.

When they opened, they scanned the room. She looked at everything, and then her eyes locked with mine.

"Hey there blue eyes. How's it going?" I asked with a smirk.

**A/N: Short but sweet. I promise that the next chapter will be longer. And I have a favor to ask of you guys. I need Eclare one-shot ideas. I want to try out a one-shot, but my creativity level is terrible. Thanks for reading. Please review. Bye-Bye.**

**-itzsyd123**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Aright. It's been almost two weeks since my last chapter. I don't know if I'm going to continue the story. Read the bottom authors note to see why.**

**P.S. This chapter is in Clare's P.O.V.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi… Or a pet llama named Tina.**

"Hey there blue eyes. How's it going?" He asked me with a smirk. My mind was still very foggy. I don't know how long I was out. I didn't even know where I was. At least I could feel my feet. I smiled back at him, but even doing that hurt.

"Where's Adam?" I asked him. I knew that I just set myself up for a very witty/sarcastic comeback.

"So you nearly die, come to the hospital, and just about gave your boyfriend a serious case of depression, and the only person you want to see is Adam? Thanks for the consideration." Eli replied. Well at least he was still his own self. Wait, did he just say that I almost died?

"Yes Eli, I would have liked for my best friend and my boyfriend to be here when I woke up. Besides, did you just say that I almost died? What on earth happened to me?" I asked him. His expression went dark. He didn't look very happy. I guess I wouldn't be happy if someone that I cared about was put in the hospital.

"Your mom did this to you. I don't know the full extent of the injuries, but what I do know is that she stabbed you with a knife through your stomach. You almost bled to death and your body just barely survived." He told me. When he was done, I felt tears start to streak down my face.

My own mother almost killed me.

The one person left in my family almost ended my life. I had to stop crying though. I wasn't dead yet and I had to keep fighting until I was.

After a few minutes, a nurse came in.

"Sweetie, there is a person by the name of Darcy wanting to speak with you." She said. My face must have lit up like a Christmas tree. She handed me the phone.

"Hello." I said. I couldn't believe that I was going to talk to my sister for the first time in two years. I missed her so much. And she called me. How did she figure out where I was?

"Hey there little sis. How are you feeling?" She asked. I was talking to my sister. I was the happiest person ever.

"I'm feeling better. How did you figure out where I was? And why didn't you call me earlier if you had a phone the whole time?" I asked.

"That's because I didn't have a phone the entire time. I just got mine back. I left Kenya and I'm coming home. I'm at the airport in Kenya now and my flight leaves in an hour. In less than a week, you and I will be reunited!" She said excitedly.

I squealed in delight. A nurse came in to check on me. I had to hang up the phone. We said our goodbye's and I took my medicine. I told Eli about how Darcy was coming back and how excited I was.

An hour and a half later, a doctor walked in. He looked serious.

"Now Clare, your injuries are pretty serious, but it's not something that can't be fixed. You have three broken ribs, some sever bruising, and the worst of it is the knife wound, and the blood loss. You will have to stay in the hospital for about a week so we can make sure that everything is healing properly." He said rather quickly. Eli and I both nodded. A nurse rushed in and told him that he was needed in another room, and they both rushed out.

"At least I'm not going to die. Most likely." I said with a smile.

"Well if you go back to live with your mom, you probably will die. What did you even do to make her so mad?" He asked.

"I don't even remember. All I remember is the pain that I felt right before I blacked out. It was so unbearable; I think it's what caused me to black out. I'm so glad you found me. And I'm so sorry we had to miss our first date. I feel terrible." I said. He looked at me with soft eyes.

"As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter where I'm at." He said.

"You're turning in to a sap, you know." I said bluntly.

"It's just what you do to me." He said with a smirk. He kissed me on my cheek and I blushed. The doctor walked back in and we turned our attention to him.

"There was a question I wanted to ask before I was called out. I would like to know who did this to you; because I'm pretty sure you wouldn't do this to yourself." He said. Eli and I looked at each other. He could tell I was worried.

"I think it's about time you tell them what's going on. But if you don't, then I will." He told me. I took a breath, readying myself to tell what had happened to me over the past two years.

**A/N: Well there you go. Now on to the reason about why I don't know if I will keep writing this. For the past two chapters I have gotten NO REVIEWS. Now I realize that everyone is busy, but you can't take one minute to write a review. It is what keeps me going. I felt very disappointed without any reviews. Now let's make a deal, if I can get to 15 reviews TOTAL, then I will post the next chapter. Until then… Read and review.**

**-itzsyd123**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm assuming now you know that when the words are in bold, it's an authors' note. So here we go. I got one review. But the reviewer, nicole-borg, beat some sense in to me and told me that I don't need reviews to keep going. So thank you and here is chapter 10 of Problematique.**

**P.S. We are still in Clare's P.O.V. and it has been a week.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Degrassi… Most likely.**

Finally, today is the day I get to go home. Darcy is there. But she is the only family I have left. I haven't seen my dad in years and after I told the doctor about what my mom had been doing, he called the police and had her arrested. But I packed my stuff, all of the two outfits I could have worn, and then I was ready.

Eli volunteered to drive me home. I accepted because Darcy was away for the day with Peter. They had really gotten along when she got back. They're starting to become inseparable. When we started to drive home, I began to cry.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Eli asked, obviously concerned.

"I'm so sorry." I sobbed back.

"Sorry for what? You're alive and you get to go home. What is there to be sorry for?" He asked.

"Ever since I met you, I have made your life hell. You got in to a fight with a bully who picked on me. You had to take me to the hospital. I stood you up for our date. I had to go to the hospital AGAIN. And you had been scared for my life. I've made your life terrible and I feel awful for it." I said, rather quickly. He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face me.

"Don't you ever say that. The week and two days that I've known you have been the best of my life. I only know a little bit about you and I know there is so much more than what is on the outside. But I do know one thing; you are the best thing that has ever happened to me Clare Edwards." He said, and I blushed. Then he did something that I didn't expect.

He leaned over and kissed me.

Now, this wasn't one of your old, ordinary, peck-on-the-lips kisses. This kiss was the most passionate kiss that I had ever felt. I could tell one thing without him even saying it.

This boy loved me. And I loved him too.

I kissed back with as much passion as he did. Reluctantly, I broke off for air. I could definitely tell that I was blushing. And a light pink color was painted on his cheeks too. We both smiled and he began to drive again. We pulled up to my house and I put my stuff in my room. Darcy had definitely kept this place very clean since she had gotten back. I couldn't say the same for my room.

My rug in the middle of the room had a large dark red stain on it. There were bits of glass everywhere, and the room reeked of wine. I felt my eyes begin to tear up. I heard Eli walk up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I was starting to really enjoy his company.

"Don't worry. I'll help you clean this up." He said, and he walked the rest of the way in to my room.

We spent the next hour sweeping and mopping my floor. The rug was a lost cause, so we just threw it away. After we were done, my room looked ten times better.

"Well, it was a lot of work, but it looks so much better. But I think I need to burn a candle." I said. I ran to my closet and pulled down a box. It was heavy, but it was a bearable weight. Eli's eyes widened when he saw what was in the box. It was a whole box of candles. I took up collecting them when my dad left and my mom started drinking. They make me calm and make everything smell better.

I pulled out my favorite scent, pineapple mango, and lit it. I put the box back where I got it. I sat back down on my bed, next to Eli. He put his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. We sat like this for the next twenty minutes. It's amazing how the both of us can sit in one position for a long period of time. I looked at the clock and it was three thirty.

"I'm getting hungry. How about I get ready and we can head to the Dot?" I asked. He nodded and I got up to take a shower. It was chilly today, so I threw on my favorite pair of jeans, a plain t-shirt, and a blue hoodie. I slipped on some converse, put a few curls in my hair, put on some make-up and I was ready to go.

When we got to the Dot, it was four thirty. We found a parking spot and walked hand-in-hand through the door together. I came to an abrupt stop, startling Eli.

"Oh my god." I said, looking at the counter.

"What?" Eli asked, looking where I was looking.

"It's my dad."

**Cliff hanger. By the way, did I mention that I hit double digit chapters? PARTY TIME. Also, I am totally willing to accept any ideas for this story. Reviews are also accepted with open arms. Thank you and have a nice day… or night. Peace.**

**-itzsyd123**


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